Meet Joey: Josephine is shy, quiet and cynical. She doesn’t enjoy confrontation if she can avoid it. Raised voices tend to cause her to tense as it reminds her of the many nights she laid in bed listening to her parents fight about her father’s drinking. She’s always hid behind the lens of a camera and today is no different – although now she makes a living at it.

HOPE Excerpt:

She reached for her bag and Talon grabbed her wrist. “Nothing and no one is going to hurt you, Joey. I promise you.” His voice was hard and filled with determination, but his eyes softened. His thumb traced over her Zibu Angelic symbol tattoo on the inside of her left wrist. The one she’d gotten with her sisters to solidify their friendship permanently. The symbol represented hope, and she’d intentionally picked it. Laydi, Juls, and Selena had given her so much hope. Her sisters. All the encouraging talks a child should receive from her parents had come from her friends. It had been Juls, not her mother, who had helped her buy tampons and explained how to use them when she had gotten her period at thirteen. Laydi had helped her pick up the pieces of her heart when her first boyfriend broke up with her shortly after she had finally conceded to sleep with him. Selena had been the one to find the Ringling College in Sarasota, and encouraged her to apply to their photography program. They’d always been her support, her encouragement—her family. Now Talon filled those gaps left by physical distance between her and her sisters. She found herself confiding in him more and more, turning to him for advice and companionship. Though she’d always have her sisters, her friendship with Talon had become a huge part of her world. “I’ve got your back, Sweetness. Anyone trying to get to you will have to go through me first.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips to it before releasing her. Her skin tingled from the warmth. Stretching open her satchel, she pulled out her cell.